Rockford firefighters battle increase in arson

Friday

ROCKFORD — City firefighters are asking residents to remain vigilant, report suspicious activity and change smoke detector batteries as they confront an increased number of arson-related house fires.

Rockford Fire Department firefighters have battled 35 fires this year in which arson was suspected, marking a five-year high in the number of intentionally set structure fires. And arsonists have raised the stakes in recent weeks. They twice set multiple structure fires simultaneously and forced firefighters to battle more than one fire at a time.

There have been no arrests, Rockford Fire Division Chief Matthew Knott said.

"They are all active investigations," Knott said. "We were able to take samples from the properties so we are sending those to the crime lab for analysis. We are working with the neighbors to see if there was any activity that seemed odd the nights of the fires. Once we get our lab results, hopefully we will get more information and we will be able to get more put together."

Nationally, there were about 27,400 house fires caused by arson in 2014, according to the latest available data. Those fires caused 310 deaths, 760 injuries and $441 million in direct property damage, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Through Sept. 30, Rockford firefighters this year had fought 35 intentionally set structure fires. There were 20 arson-related structure fires in 2015 and 33 in 2014.

And arson represents a larger proportion of all structure fires this year. Through Sept. 30, arson-related structure fires represented 17.8 percent of the 197 total structure fires in Rockford.

Arson-related structure fires represented 7.4 percent of 270 Rockford structure fires in 2015 and 12 percent of the same number of structure fires in 2014.

Investigators said fires were intentionally set minutes apart in the early morning hours of Sept. 27 on the porches of a multifamily home at 2001 Charles St. and a few blocks west at 1610 Charles St. There have 11 arson fires at vacant houses this year.

The Charles Street fires border the area represented by Keith Creek Neighborhood Association, which has worked hard since severe flooding in 2007 and 2008 to partner with the city and police to overcome problems associated with large numbers of blighted properties in a concentrated area.

The seemingly random nature of the fires is a source of concern, but also reinforces the need for homeowners, renters and landlords to make sure properties are maintained, clean and free of debris that can be used to start fires, said Jay Larson, vice president of the Keith Creek association.

"If someone is randomly doing this, he has no regard for property or human life," Larson said. "It's scary."

Source: Rockford Fire Department

The arson-related multifamily home fire was most alarming because the dwelling was occupied and seven residents were displaced, Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said.

Three intentionally set fires on Oct. 1 also burned almost simultaneously on the city's west side. Those fires gutted two vacant houses next to each other at 815 and 821 Maple St. and damaged the porch of a house a block away at 919 Acorn St.

No evidence has been uncovered to connect them to the Charles Street fires, but a connection also can't be ruled out, Bergsten said.

Multiple simultaneous fires on two different nights strained the Fire Department and risked the lives of civilians and firefighters, Bergsten said.

"It definitely creates a strain on all our resources, especially the physical resources of the firefighters responding to those calls," Bergsten said. "It also decreases the level of available services to the community when we have multiple incidents at the same time."

Two firefighters suffered sprains and muscle strains fighting the fires on Maple Street. One was hurt crawling through a house in search of potential victims, and another was hurt during overhaul operations, which is when firefighters pull apart floors, walls and ceilings to find hot spots that may flare back up if not extinguished.

"We do build (multiple, simultaneous fire scenes) into our incident command plans and we train on how to handle multiple incidents at the same time," Bergsten said. "But it comes down to the incredible men and women we have in our department who make sure to keep themselves and the citizens safe."

Jeff Kolkey: 815-987-1374; jkolkey@rrstar.com; @jeffkolkey

What can you do to fight arson-related house fires and stay safer?

Start at home: Remove abandoned cars, overgrown foliage, debris, garbage and anything that can be easily set on fire.

Secure vacant homes: Lock, shutter and board up vacant homes to make it harder for intruders to enter. Report unsecured vacant homes to police.

Neighborhood cleanup: Fire-damaged homes can ruin neighborhoods and drive out families. Clean up anything that can be easily set on fire at a vacant home in your neighborhood to reduce arson risk.

Report suspicious activity: Half of those arrested for arson across the United States are under age 18 and most are boys in their early teens.